The Consortium for Innovation, Design, Evaluation and Action (C-IDEA) at Stanford was conceived to enable a multidisciplinary infrastructure within an academic center to accelerate contributions to global health in the developing world. C-IDEA will be supported from 2010-2013 through an $8M grant from the National Institutes of Health and managed by Stanford University’s Center for Innovation in Global Health.  Capitalizing on the multi-disciplinary approach employed by Stanford and the strong relationship between the university and local entrepreneurs and financiers, C-IDEA is poised to design, implement and evaluate innovative diagnostics, drugs, devices and processes for global health.  Through this experience, a generation of professionals will be trained in a design and discovery process that promises to lead to further innovations to improve health throughout the world.